"Devotion" is a much misunderstood term. Sentimentality, emotionalism and religious fanaticism often go under the name of "devotion," and have led many, including aspirants to the higher life, astray. They have taken the false for the real, without understanding. A definition of true devotion is given by the great Shankara:
Among all means of liberation, devotion verily is the most potent. The fixing of the attention on the true Master, the Divine Self, is declared to be devotion.
So true devotion is union with the Divine Self, the Supreme Spirit. In the Eleventh Discourse of the Bhagavad-Gita, Sri Krishna states: "I am to be approached and seen as the object." It was because of his devotion to Krishna that Arjuna was able to see the Universal Form of the Supreme Master of Devotion. All the discourses of the Bhagavad-Gita deal with devotion—devotion by means of action, devotion by means of knowledge, devotion by means of renunciation, and so on. Devotion is the keynote of all the 18 discourses.
The various systems of philosophy and religion in India lay great stress on the treading of the path of devotion. Bhakti-Marga. The whole country abounds with various classes of sadhus and fakirs, who wander the length and breadth of the land, exploiting innocent people who submit to them passively and look upon them as their gurus and guardians. Also, throughout the world, wherever people, following custom and convention, throng churches and temples, mosques and synagogues, where ceremonies are performed and true knowledge is not given, there we have exploitation of the rich and poor alike, from the mental, moral and spiritual points of view. When religious people consider their particular religion the best and their own prophet the greatest, one chosen of God, they manifest fanaticism, not true devotion. A politician is not truly devoted when he considers only the good of his own country and nation, forgetting the good of the rest of the world. Thus, we can multiply examples of false devotion, exhibited in various walks of life.
Bhakti-Marga, the path of devotion, is but one of the many paths indicated in the Bhagavad-Gita, and all of them bring about a harmonious development, together leading to the goal of perfection. When one practises knowledge-jnana, action-karma, renunciation-sannyasa, meditation-dhyana, devotion-bhakti, on the correct basis of God-Law-Evolution, then one is on the path of Raja-Yoga, the Kingly Science and the Kingly Mystery, the science of life and the art of living. Hatha Yogis are false pietists of bewildered soul because they have false concepts of God and Man and Nature, and torture their bodies, thinking that is the way of liberation.
What is true devotion? It is the holiest, purest feeling of the human soul. It includes heart-prayer, love, reverence, duty, steadfastness, gratitude and other virtues. It is the result of union with the highest in us.
When, moved by the law of Evolution, the Lords of Wisdom infused into him [primitive man] the spark of consciousness, the first feeling it awoke to life and activity was a sense of solidarity, of one-ness with his spiritual creators. As the child's first feeling is for its mother and nurse, so the first aspirations of the awakening consciousness in primitive man were for those whose element he felt within himself, and who yet were outside, and independent of him. DEVOTION arose out of that feeling, and became the first and foremost motor in his nature; for it is the only one which is natural in our heart, which is innate in us, and which we find alike in human babe and the young of the animal. (The Secret Doctrine, I, 210)
Devotion is not something that belongs to our lower, personal nature; it is the highest trait of the self-conscious thinker that each of us is, and has to be developed and acquired at this stage of our evolution. Therefore, The Voice of the Silence instructs us to "make of pride and self-regard bond-maidens to devotion." As long as these lower tendencies exist, they act as barriers on the path of true devotion, just as the light of the sun is obstructed by the clouds. Therefore it is necessary to clean and clear our own lower, personal nature of sense-inclinations, passions and attachment to material existence. "Restrain by thy Divine thy lower Self. Restrain by the Eternal the Divine," says The Voice of the Silence.
Sri Krishna is the Supreme Master of Devotion, and it is because of his devotion to the welfare of humanity that he comes age after age "for the preservation of the just, the destruction of the wicked, and the establishment of righteousness," as stated in the Fourth Discourse of the Gita. He constantly calls Arjuna his devotee and friend. Arjuna was devoted to Krishna and wanted to tread the Path according to the instructions of his Master. Right at the close of the Eighteenth Discourse of the Gita it is stated: "Wherever Krishna, the supreme Master of devotion, and wherever the son of Pritha, the mighty archer, may be, there with certainty are fortune, victory, wealth, and wise action; this is my belief." Each one of us is Arjuna in his human aspect; each one of us is Krishna in his spiritual and divine aspect—Nara and Narayana. In our human aspect we have to be skilful archers, keeping our aim as high as possible.
Having taken the bow, the great weapon, let him place on it the arrow, sharpened by devotion. Then, having drawn it with a thought directed to that which is, hit the mark, O friend—the Indestructible. OM is the bow, the Self is the arrow, Brahman is called its aim. It is to be hit by a man who is not thoughtless; and then as the arrow becomes one with the target, he will become one with Brahman. Know him alone as the Self, and leave off other words. He is the bridge of the Immortal. Meditate on the self as OM. Hail to you that you may cross beyond the sea of darkness. (Mundaka Upanishad)
How different this true devotion is from the sentimental type that we see around us! It is necessary to raise our consciousness to the level of the heaven-aspiring Superior Mind—Vohu Mano. Then only will our daily life, with its various activities on different levels, become fruitful from the spiritual point of view.
It was devotion to the welfare of humanity that made Lord Buddha leave his home and family and kingdom and go in search of truth, of the cause and cure of all suffering and sorrow. And when he gained enlightenment, it was his devotion that made him renounce the peace and bliss of Nirvana and come back to the suffering world to point out the Way. In a single verse he indicated the remedy:
Evil swells the debts to pay,
Good delivers and acquits;
Shun evil, follow good; hold sway
Over thyself. This is the Way.
This is the only way in which suffering on the physical, mental and moral planes can be relieved.
The ancient pledge of Kwan-Yin is also the expression of pure devotion:
Never will I seek nor receive private, individual salvation; never will I enter into final peace alone; but forever, and everywhere, will I live and strive for the redemption of every creature throughout the world.
The great Masters of Wisdom and Compassion, out of their devotion to humanity, sent out Madame Blavatsky as Their Messenger to re-proclaim the teachings of the Wisdom-Religion, so that peace and harmony may be established on earth and men and women may be bound together into one family by the four links of the Golden Chain—Universal Unity and Causation, Human Solidarity, Karma, and Reincarnation.
On her part, H.P.B. has stated that her unswerving devotion to her Master was the only cause of her success. It was her devotion to the cause of the Masters that has kept the Theosophical Movement going.
Mr. Judge's devotion to Theosophy, his loyalty to H.P.B. and the great Teachers, enabled him to carry on the work of the Movement alone in America after H.P.B. left for India. He was considered a bridge between the trans-Himalayan School and the Western world. It was his whole-hearted devotion that kept going his monthly journal, The Path, which H.P.B. called "pure Buddhi," and through which he poured out his soul-wisdom.
When students of Theosophy in various parts of the world distorted the original teachings and departed from the lines laid down by H.P.B., it was again the man of devotion, Robert Crosbie, who had the vision and the courage to start anew along the right lines and strengthen the Theosophical Movement which had fallen to pieces. So, out of his heart-devotion he started, in 1909, the United Lodge of Theosophists, the fruit of which succeeding generations have been fortunate to enjoy.
Devotion to the Divine Principle men call God can only be expressed through the selfless service of our fellow beings. This is well expressed by Leigh Hunt in his poem "Abou Ben Adhem and the Angel":
Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight of the room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An angel writing in a book of gold;
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the Presence in a room he said,
"What writest thou?" The vision rais'd his head,
And with a look made all of sweet accord,
Answer'd, "The names of those who love the Lord."
"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"
Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerily still; and said, "I pray thee, then,
Write me as one who loves his fellow-men."
The angel wrote, and vanish'd. The next night
He came again with a great wakening light,
And show'd the names whom love of God had bless'd,
And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest.
This shows how important it is to act devotedly on the basis of knowledge and reflection and discipline, renouncing all the time the fruits of action. When that harmonious development takes place, the heart, the head and the hands work in unison, all conflicts cease and man becomes an integrated being. It can be said, then, that one is on the path of Raja Yoga, the Kingly Science and the Kingly Mystery. One works whole-heartedly with his senses, mind, heart and understanding, and performs consecrated acts.
The very first clause of the Declaration of the United Lodge of Theosophists proclaims its policy of "independent devotion to the cause of Theosophy." That cause is the great ideal of Universal Brotherhood, which makes one act for and as the Self of all creatures. The human soul, the self-conscious thinker, has to be constantly devoted to its Divine Parent, Atma-Buddhi, so as to receive its light of Wisdom and power of Compassion. This is the way to immortality in this mortal world. The human soul, which has to be constantly vigilant of the working of the lower, personal self, is the link between the Divine Parent on the one hand and the lower self on the other. This lower self has to be so refined and elevated that it is able to carry out the orders of its master, the human soul, the self-conscious thinker.
The first step in spiritual life is to be devoted to the spiritual interests of others. This enables one to recognize other pilgrim-souls as the rays of the One Supreme Self, the source of all.
One has to be absolutely devoted to the Law, the action of the One Life, cheerfully and understandingly, realizing that this one Law is also the Law of our own being. "Karma-Nemesis is no more than the (spiritual) dynamical effect of causes produced and forces awakened into activity by our own actions" (The Secret Doctrine, I, 644). It is necessary to generate causes for the benefit of others; to help the whole of Nature and to work on with her, so that Nature herself opens up her treasures, not to the physical eyes, but to the eye of Spirit.
In the Twelfth Discourse of the Gita, Sri Krishna points out different modes of devotion for people at different stages of evolution. Each one can find out for himself where he stands, and adopt the mode suited to him. Krishna also enumerates the qualities of a true devotee, which can be cultivated by all.
To them thus always devoted to me, who worship me with love, I give that mental devotion by which they come to me. For them do I out of my compassion, standing within their hearts, destroy the darkness which springs from ignorance by the brilliant lamp of spiritual discernment. (Bhagavad-Gita)
Not only is the darkness of ignorance removed by the brilliant lamp of spiritual discernment, but, as The Voice of the Silence states, true devotion may bring us back the knowledge which was ours in former births.
So live after life one has to practise devotion to regain the lost knowledge impressed upon the plastic mind of humanity in its infancy. Then only one may get the inner version or the right perception of existing things, the knowledge of the non-existent. And the Voice of the Silence will begin to whisper to the inner ear the truth about the divine life and light, the justice of the divine law and the love and compassion of the divine beings who live and labour for the upliftment of human souls and of the whole universe.
TO LOVE justice, to long for the right; to love mercy, to pity the suffering, to assist the weak, to forget wrongs and remember benefits; to love the truth, to be sincere, to utter honest words; to love liberty, to wage relentless war against slavery in all its forms; to love wife, and child, and friend, to make a happy home; to love the beautiful in art, in nature, to cultivate the mind; to be familiar with the mighty thoughts that genius has expressed, the noble needs of all the world; to cultivate courage and cheerfulness, to make others happy; to fill life with the splendour of generous acts, the warmth of loving words; to discard error, to destroy prejudice, to receive new truths with gladness; to cultivate hope, to see the calm beyond the storm, the dawn beyond the night; to do the best that can be done and then to be resigned—this is the religion of reason, the creed of science; this satisfies the brain and the heart.
—Robert G. Ingersoll